Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-24
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

We are proposing amendment No. 12 in relation to this but I also want to indicate that amendments Nos. 11 and 13 have merit also.
This is particularly the case as they would be added as a very serious component of the legislation before us, which was not subject to pre-legislative scrutiny and did not have the same examination. It is a very significant proposal that would allow for the armed forces - not just the armed force because, when you look to the Bill, it is clear that it refers to the armed forces with everything that brings - to be applied in civil situations. In situations where you have issues within civil society and the civil space, we will now be looking to the addition of the armed forces. When we talk about deployment of members of the armed forces, subsection (3) of the new section the Minister is going to introduce proposes that the members of the Defence Forces who are "deployed in aid of the civil power may use such force as is reasonable, proportionate and necessary". The force available to a member of the armed forces is considerably different. Even with the necessity and proportionality attachment, you are still talking about a level of potential force applied within situations that is far different from the level of potential force that is going to be applied within civil policing. You are talking about a significant change in circumstances when you have an issue of civil unrest and you are bringing in military-style responses with the military checks and balances rather than the civil checks and balances.
That is a really serious thing to do. At a minimum, that is why I would support amendment No. 11 from the Sinn Féin Senators. If the Minister is bringing this proposal forward, it is one that merits scrutiny not just by the justice committee but also by the defence committee. It should have the opportunity for pre-legislative scrutiny on the proposal for a very different kind of use of our armed forces, including the implications for the armed forces and their relationships with society as well. I would also support the idea that in each instance where this is deployed, we should be having a review and reporting in relation to it. Again, I hope it would be rare, but wherever it is occurring, it should be studied as part of very significant scrutiny.
I say this in the context of looking internationally. We all know this. Anybody who has served with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, or worked on any of the other pieces sees that there is always a delicate balance internationally between armed forces and the civilian power. When you blur that line, you are creating a vulnerability in regard to the sense of democratic accountability within the state. We have seen in Korea a huge reaction against something that was obviously far more, but it was an attempt to bring martial power to bear. There was an extremely strong reaction from the public in Korea to those attempts by the political or civil powers to bring martial law to bear.
This is obviously not declaring martial law; it is simply deploying the armed forces for particular instances but there are serious concerns attached that have not been properly scrutinised and that should be examined. Our amendment is actually very minimal compared to amendments Nos. 11 and 13, which I would also support. We simply say that as a basic bar, when this is happening the seriousness of it should be recognised by a requirement for a resolution passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. Our amendment is perhaps too mild in this regard and in this context, given the potential seriousness of what happens when you place armed members of the Defence Forces on public streets in situations of civil unrest. Let us think about how that looks and feels. I think that as a minimum, there should at least be an opportunity for both Houses of the Oireachtas to have an input into that decision. That would be appropriate to the seriousness of such a decision.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-24